Song notes · AI-assisted
THE LOCK WORKS BOTH WAYS
thought-rap on rules that bind you too
About the song
The side with the votes leaves the rule alone - because the rule is the only thing that will protect them next time.
The truth behind glass, the lock works both ways.
About these notes
AI-assisted song notes, based on the sources shown here. Not yet human-reviewed.
Words from the artist’s archive
THE LOCK WORKS BOTH WAYS lyrics
Artist-supplied lyric sheet, matched by title. The sheet may differ from this released performance. Production notes and alternate promotional cuts are omitted.
Read the lyric sheet
Intro
The vote was sixty to forty. The door stayed shut. Nobody in the hallway agreed.
Verse 1
They keep the old agreement under court glass, names pressed into paper by a world in the past. No promise of a harvest, no pledge the choice is wise, only that the fence stays put when anger starts to rise. A woman with one ballot hears a hundred feet near; the rule they cannot step across is all she needs to hear. The crowd could end the argument before the evening news, but power tied its laces where it could not choose. The lock works both ways.
Verse 2
The faithful lose a prize they had the votes to take. They leave the lever covered for the promise that they made. They say a rule means little if it bends for those we trust; tomorrow brings another hand, so bind tomorrow's hand with us. The paper has no pulse, and that is partly why it shields: it does not love the winner or salute the loudest field. If I protect your boundary when victory could be mine, you may believe my boundary when our places trade in time.
Chorus
The lock works both ways. It keeps the mob outside. It keeps the truth where it cant hide. Nobody turns it quick. Nobody leaves unchanged. The truth behind glass, the lock works both ways.
Verse 3
But one name on that paper owned another person's days. One clause called theft an order; one custom barred a face. A daughter brings the document her grandmother could not sign; the clerk says change needs seasons while hurt always arrives on time. The living fill the chamber, but the dead hold the key. Consent becomes inheritance, not something they can freely flee. What good is equal shelter with the old rot in the frame? A chain can stop a robber and keep a captive in the same. The lock works both ways.
Verse 4
The present answers, We are here; let present voices steer. No vanished hand can know the flood that reaches us this year. Repair should match the damage, not the patience of a seal; a rule that will not hear the hurt can make the hurt feel legal. Yet morning brings a smaller crowd with vengeance on its tongue, ready to erase at noon what midnight had begun. If need can pick the padlock, need becomes the master key; the cure that opens one cell may open yours for me.
Chorus
The lock works both ways. It keeps the mob outside. It keeps the truth where it cant hide. Nobody turns it quick. Nobody leaves unchanged. The truth behind glass, the lock works both ways.
Verse 5
At closing, two old rivals stand beneath the charter case. One sees a wall around the weak; one sees an injured place. One fears the hand now reaching; one fears the hand long gone. Both ask the bolted metal which fear it was built upon. The guard shuts down the hallway. Their footsteps fall apart. The lock has kept its promise without choosing either heart. Outside, the city changes. Inside, the clauses wait. Protection and delay go home through one unyielding gate.
Chorus
The lock works both ways. It keeps the mob outside. It keeps the truth where it cant hide. Nobody turns it quick. Nobody leaves unchanged. Which side is to blame? The lock works both ways.
Inside the recording
The vote was sixty to forty. The door stayed shut.
The lock works both ways. It keeps the mob outside.
The lock works both ways. It keeps the mob outside.
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.